Ercole Pasquini (ca. 1560 – between 1608 and 1619) was an Italian composer and organist.

Biography

Pasquini was born at

Ferrara Ferrara (; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, capital of the province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main ...

, and studied with Alessandro Milleville (1521?-1589). He was described by Agostino Superbi (1620) as a most clever and excellent musician and organist. "He had a very nimble hand; and sometimes played so splendidly that he enraptured the people and truly amazed them." In the 1580s, Pasquini took over the musical instruction of the daughters of

Giovan Battista Aleotti Giovan Battista Aleotti (1546 – 12 December 1636) was an Italian architect, engineer and writer. Biography Born in Argenta, he moved young to Ferrara, where he was formed by contact with technicians of merit such as Marco Antonio Pasi, Corneli ...

, court architect of Ferrara, from Milleville. On 1 May 1592, Pasquini became the organist of the ''ridotti'' of Mario Bevilacqua and of the Olivetian church,

Santa Maria in Organo 300px, Facade and bell tower of Santa Maria in Organo. Santa Maria in Organo is a Roman Catholic church in Verona, Northern Italy. History The church's origin dates to the 6th–8th century, at the time of the Ostrogoth and Lombard dominations ...

, in Verona. While he held these positions, he wrote and published a ''favola boscareccia'' entitled ''I fidi amanti'' (Verona, 1593) in anticipation of the wedding of Don

Carlo Gesualdo Carlo Gesualdo da Venosa (between 8 March 1566 and 30 March 1566 – 8 September 1613) was an Italian nobleman and composer. Though both the Prince of Venosa and Count of Conza, he is better known for writing madrigals and pieces of sacred ...

and Eleonora d'Este which took place in Ferrara the following year (1594). Upon the death of Bevilacqua, Pasquini apparently returned to Ferrara, where he succeeded

Luzzasco Luzzaschi Luzzasco Luzzaschi (c. 1545 – 10 September 1607) was an Italian composer, organist, and teacher of the late Renaissance music, Renaissance. He was born and died in Ferrara, and despite evidence of travels to Rome it is assumed that Luzzaschi ...

as organist of the Accademia della Morte. He was succeeded in this position by

Girolamo Frescobaldi Girolamo Alessandro Frescobaldi (; also Gerolamo, Girolimo, and Geronimo Alissandro; September 15831 March 1643) was an Italian composer and virtuoso keyboard player. Born in the Duchy of Ferrara, he was one of the most important composers of ke ...

. On 6 October 1597, Pasquini was elected organist to the Capella Giulia at

St. Peter's Basilica The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican (), or simply St. Peter's Basilica (; ), is a church of the Italian High Renaissance located in Vatican City, an independent microstate enclaved within the city of Rome, Italy. It was initiall ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. During the summer and fall of 1604, he assumed the same position at the

Santo Spirito in Sassia Church of the Holy Spirit in the Saxon District (Italian language, Italian: ''La chiesa di Santo Spirito in Sassia'') is a 12th-century Titular church, titular church in Rome, Italy. It is in ''Borgo Santo Spirito'', a street which got its name fr ...

, continuing his duties at St. Peter's. Beginning in 1603, there appears some irregularity in his signing for his payment, from the Capella Giulia. Nicolo Pasquini, possibly a son, signed from time to time from September 1603 over the next two years. During the summer of 1605, his payments were signed by the ''maestro di capella,''

Francesco Soriano Francesco Soriano (1548 or 1549, in Soriano nel Cimino – 19 July 1621, in Rome) was an Italian composer of the Renaissance music, Renaissance. He was one of the most skilled members of the Roman School in the first generation after Giovanni ...

, and in November and December, the attendant of the hospital, where Pasquini was being treated, signed. On 19 May 1608, Pasquini was dismissed from his post for "just causes." In an account by Agostino Faustini in 1646, Pasquini died insane in Rome.

Published works

About thirty pieces for the keyboard have been preserved in manuscript copies. No autographs have survived and none were published during his lifetime. Among the items which have come down to us are 6 toccatas, 2 ''durezze,'' 9 or 10 canzonas, 5 sets of variations, 3 dances, and an intabulation of

Cipriano de Rore Cipriano de Rore (occasionally Cypriano) (1515 or 1516 – between 11 and 20 September 1565) was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance, active in Italy. Not only a central representative of the generation of Franco-Flemish composers after ...

's madrigal ''Ancor che co'l partire''. These works show Pasquini to be a highly original composer, in many respects foreshadowing the keyboard works of his younger compatriot, Girolamo Frescobaldi. His ''Durezze'' are the earliest known of their type. Of his vocal works, only five were published during his lifetime or shortly afterward. The madrigal ''Mentre che la bell'Isse'' of 1591, appears as a

contrafact A contrafact is a musical work based on a prior work. The term comes from classical music and has only since the 1940s been applied to jazz, where it is still not standard. In classical music, contrafacts have been used as early as the parody m ...

motet In Western classical music, a motet is mainly a vocal musical composition, of highly diverse form and style, from high medieval music to the present. The motet was one of the preeminent polyphonic forms of Renaissance music. According to the Eng ...

''Sanctus Sebastianus'' in a Passau collection. Two motets, including the impressive ten-voice ''Quem viditis pastores?,'' were included in a publication by his student,

Raffaella Aleotti Vittoria Aleottis (c. 1575 – after 1620), believed by some scholars to be the same as Raffaella Aleotta (c. 1570 – after 1646) was an Italian Augustinian nun, a composer and organist of the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods. She is r ...

in 1593. A spiritual madrigal ''M'empio gli occhi di pianto,'' to a text by

Angelo Grillo Dom Angelo Grillo (1557October 1629) was an Italian early baroque poet belonging to the noble Genoese family of the Spinola. He wrote mostly religious verse under his own name, but as Livio Celiano, his pseudonym, he wrote amorous madrigal text ...

, appeared in 1604, and the final work, published after his death, is ''Jesu decus angelicum'' for four voices and organ.

Bibliography

*''Ercole Paquini, Collected Keyboard Works'', ed. by W. Richard Shindle; Corpus of Keyboard Music 12 (

American Institute of Musicology The American Institute of Musicology (AIM) is a musicological organization that researches, promotes and produces publications on early music. Founded in 1944 by Armen Carapetyan, the AIM's chief objective is the publication of modern editio ...

, 1966) *W. Richard Shindle: "The Vocal Works of Ercole Pasquini", ''Frescobaldi Studies'', ed. Alexander Silbiger. (Durham, NC, Duke University Press, 1987). *James L. Ladewig: "The Origins of Frescobaldi's Variation Canzonas Reappraised", ed. Alexander Silbiger. (Durham, NC, Duke University Press, 1987). *Anthony Newcomb: "Frescobaldi's Toccatas and Their Stylistic Ancestry", ''Proceedings of the Royal Musical Association'', cxi (1984–85), pp. 28–44. *W. Richard Shindle: "Pasquini, Ercole", ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', 2nd, ed., vol. 19 (Macmillan Publishers, 2001) *C. Ann Clement, Massimo Ossi, Thomas W, Bridges: "Introduction" to ''Raffaella Aleotti: Sacre Cantiones, Quinque, Septem. Octo, & Decem Vocibus Decantandae'', Music at the Courts of Italy 2, (New York & Williamstown, The Broude Trust, 2006)

External links

* * on {{DEFAULTSORT:Pasquini, Ercole 16th-century Italian musicians 1560s births 17th-century deaths Italian classical organists Italian male classical organists Italian male classical composers Italian Baroque composers Musicians from Ferrara Year of birth uncertain 17th-century Italian composers 17th-century Italian male musicians